The Daily Bucket is a place where we post and exchange our observations about what is happening in the natural world in our neighborhood. Birds, blooms, bugs - each note is a record that we can refer to in the future as we try to understand the patterns that are quietly unwinding around us.
My Yard, Late August 2012
Today it did not rain. There has been rain everyday for a week soaking the ground and rotting anything not green. It will only get wetter when Isaac streams by in a few days. My daughter, closer to the coast where the land flattens and bottoms out, said one storm this summer flooded their dirt road and yard so deep they could not get home. The sand is saturated believe it or not.
Despite the rain, there are interesting things to be found outside.
Also mosquitos - I sure didn't dawdle taking these photographs.
This cicada I found on my walkway, it's life cycle complete. The ants were fixing to eat it so I moved it away to let it die in peace. One website I saw is called CicadaMania - all cicadas all the time...
My favorite find was the Angularfruit milkvine (matalea gonocarpa) that had 2 pods developing. Finally! First time! There appears to be a black mold on them but they should dry out OK over the next few months before popping open.
The matelea also had caterpillars munching on the leaves. That was also a first and they are welcome to eat all they want. Learned that these are a Milkweed Tiger Moth - a rather nondescript gray moth but these larva are colorful.
and a few days later I spotted just the 1 and considerably bigger. Note the frass next to it. Quite efficient digesters for sure. I read there were 2 flights so this must be the last of the year. Euchaetes egle
Continuing with butterflies, here's a Black Swallowtail (Papilio polyxenes) caterpillar looking to eat whatever parsley is left.
Female lays eggs singly on leaves and flowers of the host, which are then eaten by hatching larvae. Hibernates as a chrysalis.
Here's a 3 day series of a Amanita sp.
Gorgeous coming up
At peak the next day ...
and fading fast on day 3.
Current flowers:
Spurred Butterfly Pea - Centrosema virginianum
This is growing up in the woods in partial shade. The vine found a beautyberry shrub to twist around. Dozens of blooms. Pretty common all thru the state but the only plant I have. This is in it's 3rd season that I know of and doing good.
No idea (loosestrife?) but they are all over my open yard and pathways. Native but locally invasive as they say. Dark green rosette with stalk 12-16", sometimes branched, 1/2" flower at top. I weed-eat them endlessly.
Past flowers:
Magnolia grandiflora
One of the south’s premier landscape trees. Yankees must eat their hearts out! ... Be forewarned that this southern giant needs plenty of room. Don't expect grass or anything else to grow underneath a magnolia. The old leaves that accumulate under the tree seem to take forever to decompose.
This is true, also the long curled up leaves can hold enough water to breed mosquitos. Standing on my deck I can count about 20 magnolias - trunks from 2"-12" diameter. The bigger trees get covered with the plate-sized blooms in early summer. The seed pod is tennis ball size.
Coral bean - Erythrina herbacea
I love this quote:
"Coralbean is useful for bringing bright highlights to woodland plantings in low maintenance landscaping." That's me - woods and little care. Early summer I watched a hummingbird checking out the red tubular blooms. Seeds are easy to grow once scarified so I have many more plantings. Seeds are 1/4", pods to 4 inches.
Lots of people spend lots of time growing daylilies. This website provides all the details. Or like this beauty, planted years ago and abandoned, it can thrive on neglect too.
Finally the highlight of the summer rainy season - more mushrooms.
On a log - they will dry out between rains and then perk up when wet.
Washed away by a thunderstorm
Rain hardy - this is over a week old and still solid.
and a pretty colony altho a litle rain-soaked.
Guess I'm ready for Isaac. It does what it does. I'm 30 miles inland so with a Cat 1 storm, naybe 30 MPH winds at worst. Oops weatherdude is now saying Cat 3 or 4.
Probably should get out the chainsaw and make sure it runs. Loaded up with food and water. Boiled green peanuts galore. Losing power sucks but I have plenty of ice ready. And I can charge my phone in the truck. How about y'all? Anyone else ready for a big blow? Anyone need some spare rain?